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O. L. OONDIT 85 S. B. LADD;

BOOK BEST.

No. 498,156. Patented May 23,1893.

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No; 498,156. PatentedMay 23,1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

CHARLES L. CONDIT, OF BOONTON, NEW JERSEY, AND STORY B. LADD, OFWASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

BOOK-REST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 498,156, dated May 23,1893.

Application filed February 6, 1893- Serial No. 461,226- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CHARLES L. CONDIT,

residing at Boonton, in the county of Morris and State of New Jersey,and STORY 13. LADD, residing at Washington,in the District of Columbia,citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Book-Rests; and we do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact descrip- IO tion of theinvention,such as willenable Others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, andtoletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part r5 of thisspecification.

The object of the present invention is to provide a rest or stand forlarge and heavy books which cannot be conveniently handled apart from arest, and further, one which will allow the book to present asubstantiallyhorizontal View of the open pages, or such a presentationas is convenient for use, wherever the book may be opened. For example,a work like a dictionary is the most serviceable in asingle volume, asreference has to be made to all parts of itand it is inconvenient tohave to handle several volumes or to change from one volume to another.But an exhaustive work like the Century Dictionary, with its go morethan seven thousand pages, is too bulky to handle as a single volume,and yet if constantly used it is just as desirable to have the completework at hand as an entirety, as in the case of a smaller and lessweighty book.

5 Moreover, in the case of such heavy books,

the strain on the binding from constant opening and handling is verygreat and soon destroys the binding. Therefore, as before stated, theobject of the present invention is 0 to provide a rest on which to use aheavy book, like the Century Dictionary when bound in one volume, itbeing contemplated that the dictionary shall always be open on the restin a position ready for reference. To secure these results the rest isso constructed or shaped as to have a convex support for the binding orback of the book and thereby, as the book lies open on the rest, tosupport each and every part of the binding and project the central partupward, causing the open pages of the book to lie flatter and more openthan they otherwise could, in the case of such a large book. Further, byreason of thus arching upward the center of the book-rest it is possibleto support the rest on a bearing or bearings above the center of gravityof the book-rest and its load; the point of support being beneath thebook but close up under the arched central part of the rest, whereby therest hangs suspended on its bearings, and as the leaves of the book areturned, one way or the other, the rest will adjust itself in its supportby reason of the shifting of the center of gravity, so as to cause theopen pages of the book, wherever theymay be, to present a fairlyhorizontal face, sufficiently so, at least, that the page on the steeperside of the open face will be within the angle of repose when the bookis open at the extreme end.

The invention consists therefore of a book rest having a convex supportfor the back of the book whereby the binding of the book as it lies onthis rest is arched upward, causing the book to lie open and the openpages to be flat.

It further consists of a book-rest having an arched central support forthe back of the book and a bearing beneath the center and as high as theconstruction of the rest will admit of, whereby the point of support is8 brought above the center of gravityof the rest and its load.

Further to assist the adjustment of the book rest and cause it to assumeits maximum degree of inclination when opened near one end, theinvention consists in allowing aslight lateral slip of the book on itsrest, which, when the book begins to assume an inclined position byreason of its being opened near one endand the most of the weight thrownon tothe other side, will allow the book to slide a little on its theninclined bed, thereby throwing most of its weight on to the lower sideof the rest and causing it to assume its maximum inclination.

The invention further consists of accompanying details of constructionand arrangement, all of which will be fully described and then pointedout in the claims.

. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a book-rest, orstand, with a book thereon indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 2 showsavertical sectional view of the book-rest with the supporting stand inside elevation. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken at rightangles to the plane of Fig. 2. Fig.4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 butshowing another form of bearing, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view of Fig.4 taken on the line 5-5.

The book-rest Ais for convenience in moving it about, mounted on a baseB of any approved form,having casters, and the standard O supporting thebook-rest is capable of vertical adjustment in connection with the base,by means of a clamp screw 1) or otherwise, to change the height of thebook as desired. In the modified form of bearing illustrated by Figs. 4:and 5 the standard 0 should be swiveled at its base to allow it torotate. The book-restA is constructed with the central arched or convexportion a and the flat side extensions a a, the width of the formerbeing substantially the same as the width of the back of the book to beused on the stand, and the width of the latter conforming to that of thecovers of the book. The rest is supported at a convenient inclination asclearly shown in Fig. 3, and along the lower edge of the book-rest andthe sides there is a View a to retain the book on the rest. Thebook-rest may be supported on any approved form of bearing; only itshould be set as high as possible for the reason heretofore indicated.In the first form illustrated there is a single ball bearing 0 placedclose up under the center of the arch and a little back or, above themiddle point in the longitudinal line of the arch, as shown in Fig. 3,this being done to throw the point of support as high as possible. Thearch brace D extending across from side to side beneath the book-resthas a central ver tical slot (Z through which the standard 0 passes,there being sockets d within the brace at the ends of the slot formingrests for the ends of springs E E placed within the slot on oppositesides of the standard. The other ends of the springs E E engage withstudsf f carried by a collar F on the standard 0. The arch brace D isfurther provided with a lateral brace D in a transverse plane with thestandard.

The object of the springs E, it will be seen, is to check theoscillations of the book-rest and allow it to remain in a position ofrest at whatever inclination it may assume. Under this arrangement thebook-rest will revolve freely on its ball bearing, and it can be broughtinto any position convenient for reference. It may be so constructedthat the inclination of the rest in the line of the section of Fig. 3can be changed if desired, as well understood. Provision can be made inbinding the book for the protection of the exposed pages, and thefrequent opening and closing of such a volume even on a stand is veryhard on the binding. On the other hand so long as the book lies open onthe stand there is no strain on the binding by reason of the fact thatthe back is supported at every point by the couvex support.

Referring now to the modification shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the end of thestandard 0' is bent backward to form a horizontal shaft G On the underside of the arch athere is formed a forked bearing G and a closedbearing G engaging with the shaft 0 The extra space to allow for theslip of the book on the rest as it begins to incline either to one sideor the other is shown at a \Vhat we claim as our invention is- 1. Abook-rest or stand having a central elevated portion in alignment withthe back of the book, to throw up the same as the book is opened,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A book-rest or stand having a central elevated portion in alignmentwith the back of the book, and the lower lateral portions or wings, tothrow the back of the book upward and to throw the lids downwardrespectively, substantially as set forth.

3. A book-rest or stand having a central con vex or arched uppersurface, substantially as set forth.

4. A book-rest orstand having a convex or arched center and downward andoutward inclined lateral portions substantially as specified.

5. The combination of a book-rest and a support therefor, said resthaving a convex or arched center and its point of support beneath saidcenter and above the center of gravity thereof and its load,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination of a book-rest and a support therefor, said resthaving a centrally elevated portion and depressed side or wing portions,and having its point of support above the center of gravity of the restand its load, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES L. OONDIT. STORY 13. LADD. Witnesses:

S. G. HOPKINS, WALTER NEALE.

